After the Lord of the Abyss Awakens - Chapter 34.1

“Aaah—”

Screams echoed continuously in the underground altar.

Then came the sounds of heavy objects hitting the ground one after another.

The young man stepped forward, turning his blade, thoroughly stretching his muscles and joints, just like an energetic youth who had just learned swordsmanship.

As people aged, they became less in control of themselves. Both their bodies and identities became increasingly constrained.

But now, he had returned to his youth. There was a hint of childlike innocence in his shallow smile, which then turned into a kind, squinting smile like that of an old man.

His expressions changed back and forth, as if he was repeatedly adjusting his mental state. His movements as he dealt with the scene were more like play than combat.

After being suppressed for so long, once released, it became uncontrollable, and one’s true self gushed out.

After cleaning up the scene, he was still unsatisfied. In his mind, he imagined various heretical gathering points, his eyes filled with murderous intent, cold enough to make one’s hair stand on end.

It wasn’t until half an hour later that Luo Jie finally calmed down a little. He stood alone among the corpses and pools of blood, raising his head to look at the only light leaking from above.

As soon as he woke up, he had come here to kill, and hadn’t yet carefully sorted out what had happened both “before his death” and “after his death”.

His memory of being killed was a bit hazy, because the human body was too fragile. In a state of extreme blood loss, the human brain could hardly function normally, so he couldn’t remember clearly.

Among the combat heroes, he wasn’t considered strong at all. Even the attack power of Chen Lingxi, who had a tank profession, was stronger than his. Playing dead was his usual trick, which had once fooled the God of War. Over the past few thousand years, he had experienced countless life-and-death situations and used more survival methods than ordinary people could imagine. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have been able to become the only hero who had survived until now.

History books had more or less beautified the heroes’ character and deeds, so young people born in the past thousand years generally thought that heroes were symbols of so-called light, virtue, and wisdom.

Haha, it was impossible just thinking about it.

Pure strength alone was absolutely not enough in this world.

Ah, but… it was still good to be young.

Luo Jie lowered his head, slowly wiping his sword, gradually recalling the situation after his death last night.

When he was unconscious, he seemed to have heard some movement, then opened his eyes and vaguely saw — two cats with different fur?

Ordinary cats couldn’t possibly appear at that battle scene. If ordinary cats dared to come in, they would have been killed by the curse long ago. They…no, They, what exactly were They?

Luo Jie couldn’t remember clearly, but he vaguely felt that Their magic power was not unfamiliar, and They came to save him. In the end, TThey gave him something to drink, which was why he had become like this.

Young and strong, with abundant vitality, his magic power seemed inexhaustible.

Well, it was a good thing.

Luo Jie smiled slightly, but forgot to wipe the blood on his face, making him look terrifying, like a bloodthirsty psychopathic killer.

He would deal with Their matter later. Having temporarily returned to 30% of his prime, he had to hurry and kill all those things.

Thinking of this, Luo Jie felt very pleased.

He hadn’t thought about telling the Empire that he was still alive, because he was too free to escape, and… it was also time for him to retire.

This would be a challenge. Without heroes to rely on, would they despair and collapse, or would they pull themselves together, choose to face it, and choose to grow?

Luo Jie’s gaze was profound.

“…Grow up quickly.”

A few seconds later, the young man in the pool of blood disappeared.

On the other side.

Duke Feman received news that the stronghold had been destroyed, feeling very confused.

Who did it?

Duke Feman angrily said, “What’s going on? Even Hero Luo Jie is dead, who still dares to oppose us? Isn’t this person despairing? Aren’t they afraid of death?”

The followers below knew nothing, because all those who had encountered that person had died. How could they know what the other party was?

The combat power of the Aust Empire was within their expectations. In a situation where the Continental Human Alliance and neighboring countries would not lend a hand, was this a new combat force that had sprung up out of nowhere in the Aust Empire?

Could it be that the Eldest Princess had returned?

Someone shook their head and said, “Impossible. If the Eldest Princess had returned, she would have made a grand entrance to shock the whole country. Besides, this person is a young male, not a female, not a non-human, but a genuine human!”

Duke Feman’s face darkened as he sneered. “After Hero Luo Jie, which fool wants to interfere with the Aust Empire’s predetermined fate of destruction? It doesn’t matter, kill them all. No one can stop the descent of our god!”

The followers looked at each other, and someone nervously said, “He must be at least level 90. No matter how many of us there are, it won’t be enough to kill him.”

Duke Feman became angry, “A bunch of useless people, do I have to do it myself?”

As he spoke, he suddenly appeared in front of a follower, and with a backhand, slapped off a head. Blood spurted like a fountain, creating a horrifying scene.

Everyone was splattered with blood, their faces turning pale with fright, trembling.

Duke Feman then grabbed another follower by the neck and shouted in his face. “Do you know why you’re weak? Because your faith is not strong enough! I’m sending you to kill to test your faith! Go now!”

The people opposite were stunned for a moment, then as if receiving a royal decree, immediately said, “Yes! As the Apostle said!”

Soon after, hurried footsteps were heard from the underground altar.

Duke Feman sneered, cursing between his teeth. “Useless.”

His injuries from last night hadn’t healed yet, otherwise he really wanted to meet this person who had appeared out of nowhere.

“One after another, overestimating themselves. Even the last hero died by my hand, who do you think you are? You dare to challenge?”

Duke Feman’s expression was ferocious. After his outburst of anger, he again showed satisfaction.

Because his god was about to descend, the destruction of the Aust Empire was already a foregone conclusion.

Even if the God of Light or the God of Darkness came, they couldn’t intercept it.

Around one o’clock in the afternoon, the Empire side successively received intelligence.

“What did you say? A mysterious figure appeared and took out the heretical strongholds one by one?”

“A young man? Who is he, why is he helping us?”

“Wait, you can’t find him?”

The military was in an uproar. Who could remain calm upon hearing this news?

Could it be that someone was secretly helping them?

Philip immediately arrived at the military office, walking hurriedly, his face unable to hide his joy.

“Ronald, is the news true?”

Ronald turned his head, holding a stack of papers in his hand, and nodded. “It’s true, a mysterious figure has destroyed three heretical strongholds.”

Just when they were despairing and at a loss over Hero Luo Jie’s death, someone had actually stood up to strongly confront the enemy.

Philip asked in disbelief. “Do you know who he is? Where is he now? Do you have any clues about him?”

Ronald shook his head, “It’s unclear.”

This was a completely out-of-nowhere character, powerful and fierce in nature. Just look at the scene, that kind of fighting style was hardly human-like, venting freely, extremely brutal. It was hard to tell which side was the monster.

With such a terrifying temperament, even if he was dealing with their enemies, he might not necessarily be their friend.

To be honest, when Ronald arrived at the scene, he got goosebumps all over. He had experienced many brutal scenes, but such a savage scene was one of the most extreme in his memory.

It was evident that this person was definitely not someone easy to get along with, visibly hot-tempered, impossible to interact with normally.

Ronald said, “But it’s good that he’s dealing with our enemies and not us.”

Philip nodded. “Has this matter been reported to Her Majesty and Eilinson?”

Ronald: “They both know about it, but neither has any clues as to who it might be.”

A young-looking warrior over level 90… and likely a warrior or thief class, who could you think of?

So far, there were at most just over 200 known level 90+ beings alive on the continent, each one famous, but this one who suddenly appeared today, it seemed impossible to think of who it might be specifically.

“Did anyone see his face?”

“No, he was too fast.”

Philip pondered. “Could it be someone coming to avenge Hero Luo Jie? Hero Luo Jie had many students, perhaps one of them learned about what happened to Hero Luo Jie and acted in anger to avenge their teacher.”

Ronald shook his head. “If it were someone who would help Hero Luo Jie, they should have acted before this, not allowing Hero Luo Jie to be killed.”

Taking action only after someone died didn’t make sense.

Philip paused, “You have a point.”

But in that case, who could it be?

After a moment of silence, they still couldn’t figure it out.

“Regardless, we should be grateful for his appearance.”

“Let’s continue to do our respective jobs and perform our duties well.”

On the other side, in the palace, half an hour earlier.

“Your Majesty, you need not worry, leave everything to us.”

Eilinson looked at the high platform and said firmly. “The Aust Empire will be protected by me, by us.”

Anna looked tired, taking a moment before turning her head, her calm eyes reflecting the equally tired Eilinson.

After a long while, Anna suddenly spoke. “I don’t think Hero Luo Jie would die easily. He must have left some contingency.”

Eilinson nodded heavily, “I also believe Teacher Luo Jie wouldn’t die easily.”

“…..”

Anna’s gaze was distant, as if recalling the day she first met Hero Luo Jie.

Back then, she was also just a five or six-year-old child.

At first sight, her impression of him was that of a kind old man, not at all like a world hero who had been through countless life-and-death situations.

She had even joked about his messy gray beard, saying it didn’t look like a hero at all.

Later, someone told her, “On this continent, never judge a book by its cover, especially those strong ones who have lived through the Gods Era.”

She was young then and didn’t fully understand, but nodded seriously.

The person emphasized again. “Some people become more formidable as they age. Don’t underestimate anyone who has lived for a long time.”

Anna found this strangely impressive and took it to heart. Since then, she had always held reverence for the elderly, especially those who looked ordinary on the surface but had lived for thousands of years.

However, while she believed this, Anna didn’t know what Luo Jie’s contingency might be.

The world was full of uncertainties. Perhaps they were just believing what they wanted to believe.

Thinking of this, Anna’s eyes dimmed, and her face seemed to pale a little.

Eilinson was also deep in thought, suddenly asking, “Your Majesty, do you remember the matter of that treasure from years ago?”

Anna turned her eyes, saying with some surprise. “Are you referring to the lost treasure of the otherworld god?”

Eilinson nodded. “Yes, although I don’t hold out much hope for it, I don’t think it can stop the otherworld god from descending, but we can’t just leave it unresolved. Your Majesty, you know some things, don’t you?”

When the imperial city was in chaos years ago, Eilinson had just graduated from the World Magic University, at level 50+, and hadn’t truly participated in that turmoil. She didn’t know much about what happened at the center of the turmoil, most of what she knew was secondhand, and she certainly couldn’t know the specific intelligence about the “treasure”.

The confidential scrolls said that treasure was the beginning of the previous king’s madness.

All the madness of the previous king was for obtaining that treasure.

Yet in the end, they didn’t even know what the treasure was.

Thinking about it now, did that make sense?

So, Eilinson felt she must know what was going on.

Anna pondered, frowning slightly, her lowered eyelids showing a hint of reminiscence.

After a long while, she slowly said, “I don’t know what that treasure was. My royal brother was very secretive about it and never mentioned it to anyone. After the chaos in the imperial city ended, the court’s Great Magician at the time speculated that the treasure my brother spoke of might be a limb of the otherworld god. Considering that my brother rose from level 67 to 95 in just three days, that old magician also speculated that my brother must have eaten the otherworld god’s limb, absorbing part of the otherworld god’s power, to cross into the divine realm in such a short time and become so powerful.”

Eilinson was shocked, “A limb of the otherworld god?”

A god’s limb contained powerful energy, certainly not something humans could eat.

If an ordinary person ate it, it would be strange if they didn’t die from their body exploding. How did the previous king not kill himself by eating it?

Anna nodded. “Yes, regardless, that level of enhancement was too unnatural, and this seems to be the only possibility.”

“This…”

Eilinson found it hard to believe.

Devouring a god’s limb and digesting it into one’s own power… that would surely invite retribution.

Of all the gods to offend, he chose to offend the otherworld god of subspace. The previous king must have truly gone mad.

Anna’s eyes were complex as she continued. “But this is just a hypothesis. Regardless, nothing was found back then, so we can only assume that my brother had consumed and digested the item, which is why it couldn’t be found, not even by the otherworld god.”

Eilinson frowned, “Is that so…”

Anna looked into her eyes and said, “You want to use the treasure to lure away the otherworld god, right? I understand your thinking, but it really can’t be found. Even if we wanted to return it to the otherworld god, we couldn’t.”

The previous king had committed such a grave offense, it wouldn’t be surprising if the otherworld god had destroyed the country already.

The magicians at that time desperately protected the country, forcibly isolating the otherworld god from manifesting, making it impossible for him to find the location of the Aust Empire and descend. But after several decades, the otherworld god finally found his way back.

After the last time, his revenge against the Aust Empire would only be more terrifying than before.

At its peak, the Aust Empire was once among the top ten human countries, possessing numerous top experts. But now, with talent scarce and generations disconnected, they certainly couldn’t join forces to send him away like before. When the time came, whether they could die normally would be a question.

Their worst plan was to prepare their method of death in advance, otherwise they didn’t know how they would be crazily tortured, or if they could die like humans.

Anna pondered, her figure trembling slightly.

Eilinson’s eyes darkened. After thinking for a moment, she said, “Thank you, Your Majesty. I understand.”

So, the lead about the otherworld god’s treasure had been cut off?

Eilinson persevered, continuing to look for the next clue.

A few minutes later, she received news that the heretical strongholds were being destroyed one by one. Her eyes changed.

“That person is…”

On the other side, in subspace.

The two Abyss Lords had been fighting for who knows how long, fighting until the space rules were almost obliterated.

“Beelzebub, if you have the guts, stop dodging!”

“Hmph, it’s your lack of skill if you can’t hit me.”

“Hehe, playing it like this, huh? Today I’ll definitely knock you down!”

Aelioge was still fighting with Beelzebub. In the perceived time of subspace, they had been fighting for over a month, their magic power endless, showing no signs of fatigue.